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Will Claudia Duque obtain justice?

Reporters Without Borders condemns judicial obstruction in the case against the former deputy head of the Colombian intelligence agency DAS, José Miguel Narváez, and two other former intelligence chiefs on charges of psychologically torturing leading journalist Claudia Duque.

A hearing scheduled for 24 June had to be postponed in the absence of the three defendants. The prison department, INPEC, failed to bring Narváez to court for still unclear reasons. The two other defendants are wanted by the police after being released in an “irregular” manner in 2009 in one case and in April of this year in the other.

Duque has been the target of renewed intimidation attempts since this week’s hearing was announced, reviving concerns for her security.

“We are very worried about the safety of Duque, one of the 100 ‘Information Heroes’ we named last year, and we condemn the judicial obstruction in the investigation into her abduction and the threats against her since 2001,” said Reporters Without Borders deputy programme director Virginie Dangles.

“It is unacceptable that the Colombian justice system is proving incapable of punishing those responsible for the threats against this journalist. It unfortunately confirms that impunity for crimes against journalists still prevails in Colombia.”

The repeated DAS threats to Duque and her family began in 2001 after her investigative reporting shed light on the involvement of the intelligence services in journalist Jaime Garzón’s murder in Bogotá in 1999.

The DAS has been blamed for other major violations of freedom of information to the point that President Juan Manuel Santos announced in 2011 that it would be dissolved and that its duties would assigned to other security agencies.